


The Ghost Diver

by tisfan



Series: Marvel Fluff Bingo [8]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU: Mermaids, F/M, Ghost Stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 15:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20137366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tisfan/pseuds/tisfan
Summary: Telling stories about ghosts can lead to a haunting. Don’t blame Robbie, it’s in the rules, everyone knows it.





	The Ghost Diver

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whistlingwindtree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whistlingwindtree/gifts).

“And that’s why, to this very day,” Daisy said, looking at all the merchildren surrounding her, from mere fingerlings all the way up to the adults, who were pretending they weren’t interested, but they were, because they always were. Daisy was a master story-teller. “You never venture past the edge of the Deeps, because you never know when the Ghost Diver will appear, with his skeleton seahorse, to look into _your _soul and see what penance _you_ deserve.”

The merbabies sucked water, all as one. They hadn’t considered yet, the fact that all souls had crimes on them, and that maybe one of them, one of their number, would be affected by the Penance stare.

“All right children,” Daisy said, wiggling her tail, watching the distant sunlight reflect off her purple and grey scales. “Leave a donation in the basket if you enjoyed my story. I’ll be back in a few moons.”

There was the typical grumbling, but Daisy was a storyteller, not bound to a single place or tribe of merfolk. She moved from place to place, giving wisdom, spreading the news, serving as arbiter for disputes, managing the weddings, birthings, and funeral rights for merfolk in need. 

“You don’t believe all that, do you?”

“Are you questioning the truth of my story, Tripp?” Daisy asked, looking on as people left shells and food, polished ocean stones and treasures from the human shipwrecks. She liked Tripp, he’d been her friend from the first time she’d made the journey, travelling thousands of miles to circle most of the ocean, and then to meet with her companions who traveled the western seas. He’d come with her, for a while, to meet other mer, but eventually went home again. Mers were territorial creatures.

“I’m jus’ saying,” Trip said, spreading his hands. “That we travelled together for moons, and I never saw any skeleton seahorse and its haunted rider with a skull of flame.”

“I can’t help it if you weren’t looking,” Daisy said. 

“You really going on?”

“You know I can’t stay,” she told him. “Best be on soon, before it gets full dark. There’s a good sized bed of reeds with my name on it, half a day’s swim from here.” She finished packing her few things, hefted the basket onto her shoulder. It wouldn’t last long; the food would be gone in a few days, the other stuff traded with other mer-clans for news and other gizmos. There were only a few things that Daisy carried with her, always. 

“All right,” Tripp said, taking her hands and kissing both cheeks. “Swim safe.”

“I will,” she replied. She set off toward the reed bed, waving to those few who lingered after her story. An hour’s swim, maybe more…

She was long past the village when she felt him in the waters beside her. Clad in old, human diving gear, his head bared to the water. Human-like, but he didn’t need to breathe, so he had the helmet tucked under one arm. The Hell Surger swam beside her, the eyes filled with flame.

“Telling stories about me again, chica?” Robbie teased.

“It’s not like they believe,” Daisy retorted. “They think everything is a pretty story for their entertainment. I like to shake them up a bit, sometimes.”

“Well, we keep them safe, that’s all that matters,” Robbie said. “Come on, climb aboard, we’ll get you there faster.” He extended one hand to her, the Ghost Diver, the one Returned from Neptune’s Death. The one who sold his soul to the Gods for revenge and was cursed to swim the seven seas and bring Penance to those who sinned.

Her close confidant, her friend. Her lover.

“Yeah,” she said. Her tail split and she had mostly human legs, with fins at the ankle, and scales, but still. She climbed aboard the seahorse, sitting behind Robbie and resting her cheek on his back. “Don’t hold back.”

“There’s my girl,” Robbie said. 

And the Hell Surger rushed forward, water pulling their their hair, faster than any fish could go, faster even than most of the human vehicles. 

She’d be at the next clan’s shoal in a few hours. If they didn’t stop off and enjoy each other’s company for a while.

Daisy never quite knew what the Ghost Diver’s duties would call him to do. But that was all right. She was expected at the next village, but the time table wasn’t set in sand.

Her arms tightened around his waist. The Ghost Diver might be a cursed creature, but he was a miracle for Daisy. Her own personal miracle.


End file.
